I watched my son and his wife in England go up the economic ladder there. Most people stay where my son and wife started out. In most kitchens, there is a kitchen sink and it has a hot handle a cold handle - the waters are not mixed. There is no automatic dishwasher as only the more wealthy have one. There are very few microwaves as those are very expensive - almost no one has one. There is a very small refrigerator with no freezer section. The kitchen stove is usually gas.
If you consider the above which is what the greater number of people have, you will understand why they go to the grocery at least every other day. Fresh meat will only last a few days in the fridge and there is no freezer. Veggies will last maybe four days in the fridge, however since they don't eat much meat since it is so expensive, their meal is usually veggies and pasta and hopefully some chicken or fish. Chicken and fish is their meat and eaten shortly after buying.
I guarantee you, if trucks stopped delivering food, they would start starving in no more than three days. They might have a couple of bottles of water and that's it, if they even have that.
My son and daughter were given the money for a clothes washer by her mother. The next time I went there, I took cash for them to change to pounds to buy a dryer. Most people do not have a dryer - they hang their clothes outside on a clothes line - yes, in US history, people used to do that here. Actually, in my younger days, I can remember going out in the cold to gather diapers off the line and they were frozen. When I got a dryer, I thought it was the most wonderful machine ever made.
My point is, the people of Britain would die by the millions if trucks or water stopped for any reason for several months or longer. When we think our average people would have trouble existing in an extended emergency, it is nothing compared to the British.
I don't pick up many chicks, but I'm happy with my 1870s lifestyle. With a clothesline strung up in the kitchen for when it rains.
/johnny
No way could I make it on an every day basis in a European kitchen. We’d have to have an extra bedroom for the pantry and storage and I’d be putting every dime toward an American sized fridge and a freezer. Next on the must have list would be a washer and dryer. The first thing we bought when we got married was a washer and dryer and we were both tickled pink. I haven’t had a dishwasher in 15 years. Sure, I could survive without those machines in an emergency, I wouldn’t want to on a daily basis.
Next time you visit them, take them a pressure cooker (will TSA let you?). At least they’d have canned meats and such. The name of the game there should be canned goods and dehydrated foods.
they survived the bombing by Germany pretty damn well